North Korea marked the 80th birthday of its late leader Kim Jong Il Wednesday with no provocative military displays directed at the United States.

The anniversary came as the nuclear-armed nation has hinted at restarting nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests to counter the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden while calling on Washington to drop its "hostile policy."

There was speculation that North Korea might carry out a military parade on the occasion of the anniversary, but such a move has not been confirmed.

People visit Mansu Hill in Pyongyang on Feb. 16, 2022, the 80th birthday of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong Il. Statues of the country's founder Kim Il Sung (L) and his son Kim Jong Il can be seen in the background. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

On the eve of the anniversary, the current leader, Kim Jong Un, attended a national meeting to commemorate his father in Samjiyon city, deemed the holy land of revolution at the foot of Mt. Paektu, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Mt. Paektu is the highest mountain on the Korean Peninsula, where the North says Kim Jong Il was born.

While Pyongyang has already fired projectiles seven times this year, it has apparently refrained from launching missiles during the Beijing Winter Olympics in China, North Korea's closest ally in economic and security terms. The games, which opened on Feb. 4, will end on Sunday.

People visit Mansu Hill in Pyongyang to offer flowers on Feb. 16, 2022, the 80th birthday of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong Il. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

In its editorial on Wednesday, the Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, emphasized the achievements made by Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Il was "the peerlessly brilliant commander who firmly defended the socialist country and demonstrated its dignity and might to the world, despite the hardships unprecedented in history," the newspaper said.

After Kim Jong Il died of a heart attack on Dec. 17, 2011, at age 69, Kim Jong Un inherited the leadership of North Korea, which was founded by his grandfather Kim Il Sung in 1948 with the backing of the Soviet Union, Russia's predecessor state.

Photo taken in Pyongyang on Feb. 16, 2022, shows a signboard celebrating the 80th birthday of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong Il. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Direct talks between the United States and North Korea have been at a standstill for more than two years, with Washington unlikely to make concessions over denuclearization and sanctions relief.

North Korea has expressed an unwillingness to hold bilateral negotiations with the United States unless Washington changes, what Pyongyang considers, its hostile stance. The two nations have no diplomatic relations.

The United States and North Korea remain technically in a state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War -- in which U.S.-led U.N. forces fought alongside the South against the North backed by China and the Soviet Union -- ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.